More than Just Me

Book Review: The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

The Metamorphosis

“Are you really reading this ? ” said the friend who read the summary of the book. I can’t blame her because summary of the book looks strange. A traveling Salesman transforms into a Bug , i mean, does it sound interesting ? This is the beauty of Kafka who made a grossly uninteresting topic into an amazing read.

Originally written in German, Metamorphosis is a short story with 3 parts.Every line suggest some short of irony, a message hidden that can stun you. The gift that Kafka gives in this book is that you may not notice these hidden treasures unless you intent to.

I read some reviews of the book in goodreads and I was shocked to see the comments of some readers.
Someone wrote, “I’m sorry, but all this stuff about him being a symbol for Jesus and struggling for mankind is a bit over-the-top I think. He’s a cockaroach. There’s no explanation for it, and his family is only mild freaked out at the fact that he suddenly turned into a giant bug.”

Another one said, “Thank goodness this is a short story because I don’t think I could have suffered through a full-length novel by Kafka. I read this years ago in school (can’t remember if it was high school or college, but either way, it was many, many years ago) and didn’t like it then”

Bonus Read: Kafka’s letter to his father (very amusing ). Click on the image below for the link

Kafka’s letter to his father

Kafka puts you in the situation where you will either love him or hate him for The Metamorphosis. Just imagine, you are the head of the family, earning member and the shining lamp of the household and then there is accident which changes everything for you. The way the family saw you, the way they treated you. You are no longer the commanding figure in the family, you are no longer sought for opinion, you are just a giant insect of the family.

Many argued that the Kakfa designed the character Samsa in an autobiographical way. His hatred towards his job, his relationship with his father and his Bibliographic believes were well exposed in the book.

The Metamorphosis has enjoyed a great cultural and literary recognition throughout the world. The theater adaptation of the book is also very popular. In the edition of the book which I read (the same as the cover I have posted above) explained the translation process and the essays based on Franz Kafka.

Unfortunately, Kafka couldn’t live enough to see the achievement of his literature. He always wanted to be an author, during his working years as well, and that is how the world remembers him. I rated The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka 4 out of 5 star on the goodreads .